Nick
Nick (also known as Nicolas) is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2. He is a gambler and a con-man with a slick, expensive suit and a shady (even violent) past. He takes the role of "the complainer" of the group, constantly making dour predictions and insulting the other group members. This makes him difficult for the others to like at first, but that changes as time goes by, as he learns to trust them and proves himself a valuable part of the team. He may have an obsession with cleanliness, judging by the fact that he hates getting his suit dirty. Nick's facial features are portrayed by Taymour Ghazi, and he is voiced by Hugh Dillon. Official Description Relationships with other Survivors Nick is clearly the most antagonistic character in the series so far due to his sarcasm, pessimism and general bad attitude. As a result, almost everyone starts out disliking him. When he introduces himself to everyone, he can tell them not to even bother remembering his name, as he claims that he won't be around long. He starts the game as an expert at using med-kits, and when badly hurt may say "It's been a long time since I felt this bad." He's got an assortment of rather gruesome knowledge that he shares from time to time (how easy it is to get brains out of suits, how hard it is to get blood out of a wedding dress and the like), which he follows up with "...don't ask how I know that." As the game progresses, Nick's stance towards the others seems to thaw, and although he never looses his standoffish attitude, there are hints that he's not as callous as he appears to be. * Coach: Nick and Coach seem to live to trade jabs, similar to Francis and Bill. Nick insults Coach and makes fun of his weight, but also will not hesitate to compliment him when he does something good, such as killing a Special Infected. Nick seems to recoil quickly when he has clearly annoyed Coach, and Coach is quick to shut Nick down if his complaints get close to the line. Their antagonism stops at words, as neither one ever looks likely to abandon the other. If Nick sees Coach dead, he will be sad, saying "You were a hell of a man, Coach," and "I'll miss ya." * Ellis: Nick has little respect for Ellis and will mock everything about him, though his most common target is Ellis's sunny attitude. In The Passing, he outright threatens to leave Ellis behind. However, his respect for Ellis does seem to grow as the story goes on; for example, after escaping "Dead Center" and starting the events of "Dark Carnival", he will either compliment Ellis "Don't sweat it, at least you got us out of that mall." or upset him "Goddamn you, Jimmy Gibbs Jr.!". He also seems to insult Jimmy Gibbs Jr. on purpose just to annoy Ellis and Coach. Though he will ask Ellis if the Midnight Riders, a band that Ellis likes, are good, which might be an attempt to get along with him. Even when Ellis dies, his attitude is negative "I didn't think you'd last this long,", unless both Coach and Rochelle are killed, which is when Nick will say "Hey Ellis, all that stuff I said about you? I was kidding." Outgoing, friendly Ellis doesn't seem fazed by any of the abuse, although if Nick kills a Special Infected, Ellis will suggest darkly "Why does it not surprise me that you're good with a gun?" * Rochelle: Rochelle is the one Survivor Nick seems to like from the very start. He doesn't insult her unless she shoots him, and is less reluctant to use his med-kits and items on her early in the game. Sometimes when Nick sees Rochelle dead, he will say "I can think of two other people I would have rather seen go first, " or "So much for repopulating the Earth," implying that his interest in her may be primarily reproductive/sexual; however, Nick is utterly dismissive of Zoey, the only other uninfected female he meets in the game. After Francis takes a liking to Rochelle, Nick reacts almost jealously, calling Francis a "greasy pig" or her boyfriend. For her part, Rochelle acts rather ambivalent towards Nick. She's nice to him the same way she's nice to everyone and is quick to take his side after he shoots the infected helicopter pilot, but in The Passing she goes as far as saying that she hates him when he apparently mocks Ellis's crush one too many times. Still, the two seem to have more in common than with the others, as they are both out-of-towners, like sarcasm and (when controlled by the AI) have similar taste in weaponry (assault rifle variants). * Francis: Nick and Francis instantly dislike each other. At the start of The Riverbank, if Francis is present, he refers to him as a "greasy vest-wearing monkey" while Francis calls him "Suit" or "Colonel Sanders". During The Passing, he will refer to their mission as to "lower the bridge and kick the biker's ass". He also shows a great distrust of Francis, believing he will not keep his word to lower the bridge."That biker guy better still be here."''However, Nick isn't far from thanking Francis for lowering the bridge, and may sometimes express concern for the trio ''"You three take care of yourself...and thanks.". If Francis mentions losing a man, Nick may say "Hey...sorry for your loss." * Zoey: Nick and Zoey also dislike each other at first glance. Nick starts things off by insulting Zoey, calling her "cupcake" and asking if there is a "man" up there he can talk to. Zoey will act sarcastically helpless "Boo hoo, I dont know what to do...Go to hell, Colonel Sanders!" She even threatens to hurt/kill him "I could shoot you where you stand", to which Nick might say he was merely joking "Would you lighten up? Man, nobody can take a joke anymore.". She, like Francis, calls him "Colonel Sanders" . Nick will mercilessly tease Ellis for his crush on Zoey, even suggesting Ellis get Zoey's name tattooed on his butt."Ellis, did you get that girl's name? 'Cause I can tattoo it on your ass. She'll like that." When they meet up again during The Port, Zoey is most reluctant to help Nick, but does support him along with everyone else once the battle starts. * Louis: Nick seems to have a dismissive attitude about Louis."Fine sure, you need to go fill it up with the gas cans, good luck to you, even if you are acting like that." Because of this, Nick is the only Survivor Louis dislikes. Louis will occasionally agree with Francis, saying "Bill would have shot him by now." Nick is also the only Survivor Louis doesn't wish luck to at the end of The Passing. However, Nick seems to appreciate Louis's shooting skills, and even offers to leave Ellis behind for him to come along. Louis will reverse his distaste for Nick, even if he doesn't remember his name. Nick will eventually apologize to the original Survivors for his coldness, which they acknowledge by warning him about incoming Infected, helping him and the other Survivors out, and bidding them farewell on their way. Quotes See: Nick/Quotes Notes * Evidence of Nick's criminal past can be seen in the Zombie Survival Guide trailer, when he opens a cash register at the beginning with a grin on his face. * All of Nick's new lines in The Passing are Francis's grey color with captions on, much like Louis and Zoey's new lines in Crash Course. * In the Zombie Survival Guide trailer, Nick is seen wielding weapons in either his left or right hands at different times, possibly meaning he is ambidextrous. * Nick bears the same symbol on a ring of his as Francis has on one of his tattoos (Seen to the right). * In the commentary for Left 4 Dead 2, the developers stated that Nick's character was originally an escaped prisoner that stole a nice suit, but he was eventually adapted into his current con-man persona. It is probable that he is still a convicted felon, as Nick can make a remark to the effect that he's not legally allowed to own firearms - a right Americans only lose if convicted of a felony, or some severe misdemeanors involving a firearm. ** This is supported by the fact that when in The Swamp, Nick may sometimes state that brains come out of a suit but swamp water doesn't, and then tells the others to not ask him how he knows that. ** Also supporting this is when approaching the wedding area on The Riverbank, he may state "This brings back some bad memories,", or that it's hard to get blood out of a wedding dress, which hints at some violent incident on his wedding day. However, it is unlikely that the bride was killed in the incident, since he mentions that the Witch's cry reminds him of his ex-wife, implying she, at least, survived long enough to divorce him. * When a Tank attacks in Dead Center, Nick will sometimes say that perhaps if they do not move, the Tank will not notice them. This is possibly referencing a scene from the movie Jurassic Park. * Nick has a hickey mark on his neck and lipstick on his collar, implying he's a bit of a ladie's man. * He is referred to as "gambler" in the game files. * Nick is the one who shot the infected Helicopter Pilot at the start of Swamp Fever. His teammates can react positively to this, Ellis screaming "That was some CRAZY shit," and Rochelle saying "If the trip had a low point, it was when the pilot stopped flying the plane and attacked us," or negatively, with Ellis complaining "Yeah he was a zombie, but he was also OUR ONLY PILOT." Nick can either insist "He was a zombie, he must have been bitten before he picked us up," or say "I can't believe none of you were going to shoot him,", which implies that the rest of the team froze when the pilot turned on them. * Nick's gambler background pops up from time to time as he keeps the other Survivors informed of their increasingly slim odds of survival. * Sometimes, if a Survivor shoots or attacks Nick, he will say "I don't know who started this shit, 'kay? But let's just stop the friendly fire right now." However, the caption will show "...Stop the friendly right..." missing the "fire". * Every now and then, when Nick says Ellis's name, he may add a silly accent to it, mimicking Ellis. Otherwise he may refer to him as 'overalls', sharing the alternative name of the Charger. * Even if you're only using melee weapons, Nick will sometimes shout "This is why we have guns!" before a Crescendo Event, although this could be sarcastic due to his personality. * As of The Passing, Nick reveals that he knows how to do tattoos and offers to give Ellis or Rochelle one; however, he cannot do tattoos with color. * Nick is the only Left 4 Dead 2 Survivor not to fall for Francis's claims of being a cop. If he did not speak to Francis at the beginning, he is quick to realize that the Left 4 Dead Survivors are not cops at the finale. * There is a strange glitch in the game that occurs if Nick dies - both Coach and Ellis never talk again, even if they are pounced by a Hunter or are caught by a Jockey e.t.c. until Nick is saved from a closet or somebody uses a defibrillator on him. This is likely a glitch, seeing as how both Coach and Ellis don't seem to like Nick alot, while the only person who keeps talking - Rochelle - is more friendly towards Nick than anyone else. * In an in-game vote, Nick came out joint-top with Ellis as peoples' favorite character, both getting 33% of the vote for PC players. He came in second place on the 360 version. * One of Nick's quotes could be a possible reference to The Simpsons. Sometimes when healing a teammate he will say "Let Doctor Nick fix you up." In the Simpsons, Doctor Nick is a cheap doctor, often not knowing many relevant things about medical treatment. This could also be a reference to Nick having previous experience with medical kits, as he will also say "Just relax, I've done this before," when he uses his first kits early in the game. Gallery bg_nick.jpg|A close up photo of Nick. Image:IMG_0822.jpg|Nick's first appearance in the E3 2009 trailer. Image:Cutnick.jpg|Nick as he appears in the last campaign, The Parish. Image:Render-nick.jpg|Nick with a frying pan as seen in game. Image:Nicks face model.jpg|Nick's face model, Taymour Ghazi. Hugh Dillon.jpg|Hugh Dillon, Nick's voice actor. References Category:Left 4 Dead 2 Category:The Survivors